Off to Taipei for the Golden Horse Film & TV Film Project Promotion (FTPP)

It's 6:07am while I'm writing this. In a few hours, I will be hopping onto a bus to Narita Airport and catch the flight to Taipei for the Golden Horse Film & TV Film Project Promotion (FTTP), a project market similar to the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) in March, or the Network of Asian Fantastic Films (NAFF) in July.

Characteristic of me, I have yet to sleep at all. I guess I wanted a better sleep in the plane.

I'm shopping a feature film project of mine called REINCARNATED DREAMS OF DEER, which I've spent the last few months in seclusion trying to write (aside from the span of time during Tokyo Film Festival, I was really just writing this screenplay since I came back to Tokyo in September). If everything comes together, this would become my debut feature-length film.

Back in March, I was shopping a different project around at HAF in Hong Kong called IMPERMANENCE, which was something I wrote after attending the Torino Film Lab last year. (you may remember me attending these workshops at Bratislava last March, Brest/ Brignogan last July and Torino last November, which was filled with beautiful photos that I took)

I had only attended Project Markets as a producer (accompanying Ming Jin's projects), so being in Torino exactly a year ago, and then HAF, were invaluable experiences for me.

Therefore I spent the entire Sunday trying to prepare some materials that I have to bring to Taipei with me. I remember the nightmare I had in Hong Kong, when my constantly unreliable laptop died right before I went for the trip. It also died when I was in Torino. It was very difficult for me then. I still shudder at the memories.

Lying right before me now are a pair of DVDs. One contains a collection of works I did beginning from KINGYO to the current EXHALATION/ INHALATION pair. The other is my upcoming LAST FRAGMENTS OF WINTER. I had to say that my DVD design skills isn't too shabby!

Aside from a brief rain, it was a nice Sunday afternoon.

The golden tree leaves seemed more golden than I last noticed.

Scattered all over the ground, and whirling about whenever there was a breeze.

The last time I went to Taipei was a family trip in October 2007. Four years ago felt so different, I had yet to make a single short film, I had yet to move to Tokyo, I had yet to see the films of Edward Yang that would influence me so much now.

A business trip is different, but I still look forward to being able to have some nice Taiwanese food, enjoy its 24-hour bookshop, soak in the city.

Also, having spent half of my life watching the Golden Horse Awards (Chinese equivalent of Oscars) on TV, I'm a little curious how the ceremony is like when you attend it in person (which I'm doing on the 26th).